July 10, 2008
Google Nemesis / Google Slasher - interesting, but flawed?
I too got a pile of mail inviting me to jump in to the Google Nemesis launch.
If you haven’t heard of it then it is a server side, template driven, one-click method of quickly setting up Clickbank affiliate reviews and sending traffic using AdWords (or other PPC’s).
Well, I thought I would take a look and signed up - but my question here is, is this approach not seriously flawed?
The basic thinking and idea behind it is great - no problem there, but I think there is a serious issue here.
One of the principles we always strictly adhere to is privacy. We always try and ensure that our software users remain in control of their own data at all times - and judging by the comments I have received over the years, it’s high on the list of our user’s priorities as well…
But Google Nemesis, being hosted on their servers, also requires you to put in you clickbank id and login, which is then stored on their server. I looked for a privacy policy but could not find one - which also concerned me.
We will launch the new Competition Dominator shortly, which will include a lot of the type of functionality, including the Clickbank market place, that affiliate marketers need to dominate competition - but the difference is that it is on the users desktop and no private data goes anywhere else.
I would be interested to hear what anyone else thinks about this, but I for one will not be sharing my personal details with anyone.
Hi Chris,
Yep, I’ve been worried about the Clickbank password thing as well. However being totally new to all of this I did in fact give out this information. Hope it’s not a mistake on my part.
Cheers,
Ian
Hi Ian
I did approach Chris for an undertaking that all personal data, including campaign data would remain confidential. The reply I received did not address this directly, but instead just said “if you want a refund, email us”.
As software developers ourselves, this is an issue that comes up often, especially in the internet marketing niche, because very often one needs login access to pull data. However, to me - and clearly to our customers - privacy is critical and it’s certainly not something I would compromise on.
server side software that collects and retains personal data for IM campaigns…can you say…
electronic pimping
Who ends uP doing all of the heavy lifting here. With 1000s of paying minions…what a deal…where do I sign uP to be the captain of that ship…
Stepper
gourmet coffee snob
always drink better coffee
http://freshcoffee.notlong.com
Thanks Chris.
Not a very reassuring response though.
Cheers,
Ian
Hi Ian
No - it’s not I’m afraid. There are a lot of different issues going on here, which I am not getting into as I don’t want to be seen to be “bashing” other people’s products. But there is a comprehensive discussion going on at the Warrior forum if you want more background on it. http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=258580
Hi all,
First comment on this blog.
I bought Nemesis as I’m working at putting up a site to market affiliately. I didn’t find out I had to give out my clickbank nickname until I arrived at the site. As the nickname is not something I want to make “public”, I refunded the product. On looking at what the product offered, I realized that what I’m currently using does everything Nemesis does except saving the data on a web server, which made it an easy choice to cancel Nemesis.
Hello Chris,
I have sign up the Nemesis - with a specially feeling like you told about the clickbank pw. I have try set up some campaigns and after 3 days - the results - very poor.
I have bought from you the Competition Dominator and I like them much. It’s a good news that you have a new version. Does I get the upgrad free or how much will this cost. Also, have you a date when you will launch them?
Thanks for a short answer.
Fritz
Ahhh yes, such a treat to actually find a marketer not pushing that Crap. I am sorry but I just don’t see how one can justify investing such a fee into something you don’t have full control of and is ‘potentially’ prone to privacy issues. I already have enough concern with privacy. Its interesting being in the IM world, the launch after launch, and so many nothing more than overhyped garbage, which in my opinion is Google Nemisis. Sure one could very likely make money with it, but the entire service is based on a necessity to maintain a monthly fee. The residual income thing that we have heard over and over…While I don’t question the potential of the product, I do question the cost and the reality that this job (that the software does) could be done for much less other ways.
Thanks for the post guys!
Cheers,
Jeromy
Chris
I signed up for this, and pulled out 2 days later before giving any adwords info.
I read all the info and watched the videos, and at no time it is tell you specifically how much you could loose if it all goes wrong.
Its a template, and easy enough to make your own version. i would say CB Niche Builder does something similar
Kevin
Hi guys
Yup, you are right with all the privacy and access to Your data! “You” (= their clients) will be doing all that hard work - finding new niches, testing, building campaigns etc and They will be just picking the ripe fruit.
BTW Chris and Goran: I also would like to know about the update, if that will be available for your customers. I bought the CD - wasn’t very happy, especially with the layout and easyness to use (seems to me too complicated) - hope you are going to address this issue too, so I can finally start using Your product and not Adspy Pro and others…
That would be Great!
Hi Chris
Thanks for the info.The privacy in our once free society is going by the boards. Quite upsetting.
All we can do is choose not to use products that threaten our rights. Since we all can choose items based on our beliefs and freedoms, make it very clear that we will not tolerate ANYTHING that threatens that.
Do you think that Nemesis would steal every sale, or just skim some of your sales off the top to appear as if you’re actually converting people somewhat? I just bought the Google Nemesis, but I’m very skeptical about the clickbank ID too. It’s layed out fairly well, but again it seems very basic and the hype was too much for this product even though they claim differently.
Is there similar software out there that will pump out easy websites like Nemesis (besides just using Microsoft Frontpage), so I take my knowledge from previous e-courses and compile my own website campaigns instantaneously? Thanks for your time…
Hi Chris - I certainly wouldn’t say what they would or would not do - the point really is that I would not want to put myself in a position where someone has control over my personal data. As I said above, I contacted Chris at Google Nemesis for an undertaking that there was no risk or use of my generated data and he did not give me such an undertaking, but simply invited me to refund - which I duly did.
The only web server based applications that I would consider using would be ones where I control personal data - and only me. In this case, you are putting your clickbank account details under (potentially) someone elses control, which has to be a concern.
As to the program itself, if one breaks it down, what have you got?
1. Clickbank searching
2. Basic stats
3. Basic templates
So, it’s conceivable before very long that there will be a blizzard of identical looking templates promoting clickbank products - we know Google does not like that - and stats and clickbank functionalty are not in my view worth the price.
Just for your info…
I am a Google Nemesis user and there is no Clickbank ID login page where one must place a password. This pre-launch method (which has since been removed) is still shown in one of the training videos that is viewable on the Google Nemesis website.
Infact, the ACTUAL procedure to import Clickbank account info into Google Nemesis is as follows:
a/ Login into your Clickbank account directly from Clickbank itself.
b/ Export your account details as a *.csv file
c/ Import the file with the button provided within Google Slasher.
And that’s it! Google Nemesis DOES NOT ask for your Clickbank password. the pre-launch version did, but Chris McNeeney changed that very quickly upon realising the controversy this would cause.
Hope that explains the situation.
As quoted directly from the Google Slasher Manual:
“EXPORTING AND UPLOADING CSV FILES
With ClickBank, you have the option to export sales data into a “CSV file”, which is basically a database file that includes information such as the product you have sold, the commission you earned and your tracking ID.
By exporting this file from ClickBank, and then uploading it into our system, we can review the tracking ID’s and sales data, and tell you which products and keywords have generated your sales.
NOTE: You will need to actually generate sales in your ClickBank account to export this csv data - you can see whether you have made sales by logging into your ClickBank account and looking at the “daily subtotals” page (the page you go to as soon as you login to ClickBank). If you have not generated any sales, then please refer to the training material in the members area to try to work out why.
Once you have generated sales, and want to export the csv and upload it, please do the following.
Login to your ClickBank account and click on the “Reporting” tab at the very top of the screen.
On the Reporting section, click on the “transactions” link at the top of the screen. This will load up your sales data.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for a link which says “Export options: CSV” (it should be right at the bottom left corner of the transactions page). Click on the CSV link and “save file as” or “save target as” to save the CSV file to your computer.
Return to your Google Slasher account and click on the “browse” button then find and select the CSV file that you just downloaded to your computer. Then click the “upload sales” button to upload the file. This will now update the data and will allow us to tell you which keywords and products are generating sales.
Repeat this process whenever you generate sales.”
BTW…
I’ve seen a copy of Competition Dominator in action on a friends computer and must say, I’m impressed. So impressed that I am strongly considering purchasing a copy once I am up to speed with my marketing campaigns (being a relative ‘newbie’ to the scene!)
Hi Torsten
Thanks for posting that update; Frankly I was quite amazed that they would be able to maintain a sustainable business model like that - we know from personal experience just how cautious people are with personal data - and rightly so. Sounds like they got that message loud and clear. For the record though, I was asked for my user data after launch - not in prelaunch, but from what you posted above clearly they realised they had a big problem on their hands and moved fast to fix it.
All the best
Chris
Hi Guys,
I am a complete newbie but bought Slasher however, have never felt comfortable about the fact that it is not on my computer. Have asked Chris about the ClickBank thing and have noticed you dont have to include your ID anymore just Nickname…..still not happy with that either.
One of my biggest headaches with only being able to use online is that I rarely have access to the Internet where I work (on ship), when I want to view the training videos I have to refresh which takes hours (connection is so slow!) so for me trying to use it is painful! Have asked Chris for videos to view offline and he wont help.
So when are you going to do something similar and the big question……what sort of price are we going to be looking at here? Please make it affordable! Look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Rgds, Mike
Message for Mike Seelye.
What is the software you are using then Mike that you say is similar to Slasher as I would be very interested to know. Is it something you retain on your computer?
Rgds, mike